BLM co-founder loses ‘swatting’ lawsuit against LAPD
Black Lives Matter co-founder Melina Abdullah lost a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday, with a jury finding that police acted appropriately in a call to her residence, the Los Angeles Times reported. Abdullah had sued the LAPD in 2020 after officers responded to her home in an alleged “swatting” incident. Swatting is the practice of calling in fake police emergencies to a person’s residence, sometimes resulting in violence. Abdullah argued that police had known the swatting call was a hoax, but responded to her home anyway in an attempt to intimidate her due to her anti-police advocacy. Police argued they acted appropriately, saying a caller had claimed he had taken three hostages inside Abdullah’s home. He threatened to kill the imagined hostages if he did not receive a payment of $1 million. CORNEL WEST DITCHES GREEN PARTY; NOW RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AS AN INDEPENDENT Abdullah livestreamed from her phone during the police interaction, and she could be heard asking officers, “Do you know who I am?” She also asked her viewers on social media to contact two members of the LA city council, according to the Times. Abdullah said the Thursday ruling against her was “dispiriting and disappointing and not surprising,” arguing it was the result of “an unjust system,” the Times reported. She plans to appeal the ruling. Abdullah last made headlines when she was selected as Cornel West’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election. She accepted West’s offer in early April. CORNEL WEST SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY ‘BEYOND REDEMPTION’ West, running as an independent, said he “wanted somebody whose heart, mind, and soul is committed to the empowerment of poor and working peoples of all colors,” adding that “Melina has a history of longevity of putting her heart, mind and soul in the struggle.” West commented on Abdullah’s court defeat on social media last week. “I stand in deep solidarity with my dear sister, comrade and running mate, Dr. Melina Abdullah! I believe this verdict is a major miscarriage of justice! We shall continue to fight for Truth Justice and Love!” he wrote.
Faridabad Jewar Expressway: Ballabgarh to Jewar Airport in 15 minutes, check distance, route, completion date
The six-lane expressway is already underway construction and is likely be completed by June 2025.
House lawmakers visit Taiwan as China warns US to stay out
TAIPEI, TAIWAN – A group of House lawmakers is in Taiwan this week meeting with its newly elected officials, despite warnings from China to stay out of the region and as Beijing ramps up its military drills around the island. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is leading the multi-day diplomatic trip, which is coming a week after President Lai Ching-te and his deputies took office with a defiant speech emphasizing Taiwan’s independence from Beijing’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “Leading this historic and bipartisan CODEL to Taiwan — the first U.S. congressional delegation to meet with the newly elected Taiwan officials — sends a signal to the Chinese Communist Party that the United States stands with the people of Taiwan and will work to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Straight,” McCaul told Fox News Digital. “I look forward to meeting senior Taiwan leaders and members of civil society to continue strengthening our bilateral relationship on all fronts.” The bipartisan group also includes Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., the panel’s subcommittee chair for the Indo-Pacific, along with Reps. Andy Barr, R-Ky., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Joe Wilson, R-S.C. CHINA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY BLASTS TAIWAN INAUGURATION, PHILIPPINES STANDOFF IN SOUTH CHINA SEA Panetta told Fox News Digital the trip sent a critical pro-democracy message throughout the globe. “Democracies around the world must stand together in defense of our shared values and freedoms,” Panetta said. “This bipartisan delegation to Taiwan is a demonstration of that necessary partnership. I look forward to congratulating President Lai Ching-te on his recent inauguration and continuing to strengthen the bonds between our two nations with an eye toward the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the region.” China’s military, meanwhile, has been exercising a menacing show of force in drills involving “sea assaults, land strikes, air defense and anti-submarine in the airspace and waters to the north and south of Taiwan Island,” Beijing’s Defense Ministry said Thursday. CHINA SANCTIONS FORMER REPUBLICAN REP MIKE GALLAGHER AFTER TAIWAN PRESIDENT’S INAUGURATION Beijing’s Defense Ministry said the drills included “joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, and joint precision strikes on key targets” and were “a strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces.” The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said it had tracked 49 Chinese military planes and 19 of China’s Navy ships operating around the Island on Friday. It blasted China’s drills as an “irrational provocation.” In his inaugural speech, Taiwan’s President Lai said he sought to “neither yield nor provoke” Beijing but pledged to stand firm against China’s encroachment. LAWMAKERS BRAWL AS TAIWAN’S PARLIAMENT DESCENDS INTO CHAOS The Chinese government has rebuked the new leader, and a top CCP official issued a direct warning to U.S. lawmakers not to meet with him or other Taiwanese government officials. “Any visit by congressional members to Taiwan will seriously violate the one-China principle . . . interfere in China’s internal affairs, undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and send a seriously wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said late last week. Wenbin called on the U.S. to stop official diplomatic communications with Taiwan, “Otherwise, all consequences arising therefrom must be borne by the U.S.”
UN estimates more than 670 killed in Papua New Guinea landslide
Authorities are trying to establish evacuation centres on safer ground on either side of the massive swath of debris. The International Organization for Migration has increased its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to more than 670. Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the United Nations agency’s mission in the South Pacific island nation, said on Sunday the revised death toll was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 homes had been buried by Friday’s landslide. (Al Jazeera) The previous estimate had been 60 homes. “They are estimating that more than 670 people [are] under the soil at the moment,” Aktoprak said. “The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for eveyrone involved,” added Aktoprak, who is based in capital, Port Moresby. Local officials had initially put the death toll on Friday at 100 or more. Only five bodies and a leg of a sixth victim had been recovered by Sunday, while seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment. Meanwhile, emergency responders were moving survivors of the massive landslide to safer ground as tonnes of unstable earth and tribal warfare, which is rife in the country’s highlands, threatened the rescue effort. Damage to infrastructure also made it more difficult for rescue and relief efforts to reach the area, according to Justine McMahon, a CARE Australia humanitarian group representative in PNG. “The ground is quite unstable, making it difficult for rescuers to get in. The main road has also been cut off by about 200 metres [656 feet], hampering relief,” she told Al Jazeera. Car-sized boulders Heavy earth-moving equipment are yet to arrive at the mountainous location 600km (370 miles) northwest of Port Moresby. At some points, the landslide – a mix of car-sized boulders, uprooted trees and churned-up earth – was thought to be 8 metres (26 feet) deep. Aid agencies said the catastrophe had effectively wiped out the village’s livestock, food gardens and sources of clean water. Government authorities were trying to establish evacuation centres on safer ground on either side of the massive swath of debris that covers an area the size of three to four football fields. “The land hasn’t settled yet,” McMahon told Al Jazeera. Besides the blocked highway, convoys that have transported relief have faced risks related to tribal fighting in one village about halfway along the route. PNG soldiers were providing security for the convoys. The government is expected to decide by Tuesday whether it will officially request more international help. The United States and Australia, a near neighbour and PNG’s most generous provider of foreign aid, are among governments that have publicly stated their readiness to do more to help the responders. Adblock test (Why?)
UK’s Sunak promises mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if elected
Ruling Conservative Party says it will bring back national service if it wins the July 4 general election. Eighteen-year-olds will have to perform a mandatory national service if the Conservative Party is voted back to power in the United Kingdom’s July 4 election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced. The UK has “generations of young people who have not had the opportunities they deserve”, and this measure would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world”, Sunak said on Saturday. The prime minister’s plan would entail young people being given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year volunteering in their community, the party said. The announcement came as Conservatives gear up for elections, heightening its attacks on the opposition Labour Party. The UK had national service between 1947 and 1960, with men between the ages of 17 and 21 serving in the armed forces for 18 months. The British Army has reduced in size from 100,000 in 2010 to nearly 73,000 as of January 2024, the BBC reported. The Conservative Party said the placement with the armed forces would help the teenagers “learn and take part in logistics, cybersecurity, procurement or civil response operations”. The community service option would entail helping local fire, police and the UK’s National Health Service, as well as charities tackling loneliness in elderly, isolated people. The programme would cost approximately 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2bn) a year, BBC reported. A royal commission, with experts from military and civil society, would be created to design the national service programme. The first pilot for the programme would open applications in September 2025. Following that, the Conservatives would introduce a “National Service Act” to make the measures compulsory by the end of the next parliamentary term. The Conservatives have insisted the scheme does not amount to conscription, the Guardian reported. “This new, mandatory national service will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real-world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country,” Sunak said. “The consequences of uncertainty are clear. No plan means a more dangerous world. You, your family and our country are all at risk if Labour win,” he added. The Labour Party called the announcement “another desperate unfunded commitment” and said the foreign minister, David Cameron, introduced a similar scheme – the National Citizen Service – when he was prime minister. A Labour spokesperson said: “This is not a plan – it’s a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the armed forces to their smallest size since Napoleon.” “Britain has had enough of the Conservatives, who are bankrupt of ideas and have no plans to end 14 years of chaos. It’s time to turn the page and rebuild Britain with Labour.” Several European countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, already have some form of conscription for their armed forces. Adblock test (Why?)
Man claiming to be Israeli soldier arrested for anti-Muslim abuse in UK
NewsFeed A man who described himself as a soldier with the Israeli army was arrested for ‘racially aggravated assault’ after verbally abusing a Muslim woman at a London train station. Witnesses say he pulled a woman’s headscarf, triggering the altercation. Published On 26 May 202426 May 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
IMD Weather Update: Red alert issued for Delhi for 4 days, severe heatwave in these states; check full forecast
A red alert has been issued in the capital for the next four days as the Met Office has predicted that the mercury is likely to rise in next few days.
Cyclone Remal expected to make landfall in West Bengal tonight, several flights, trains cancelled, check latest update
The cyclone is forecasted to bring extremely heavy rainfall to the coastal districts of West Bengal
DNA Verified: Painting behind Rahul, Sonia Gandhi viral selfie is not of Jesus Christ
Some users claimed that a poster behind Rahul and Sonia Gandhi depicted Jesus Christ
Trump, in hostile territory, faces booing during Libertarian Party convention as members pick their nominee
Former President Donald Trump was met with a crowd of repeated booing during his speech at the Libertarian Party convention Saturday night, appearing unsuccessful in his attempts to sway Libertarian voters critical of him for his COVID-19, immigration, drug war and foreign policies, as well as for his increased federal deficits and support for warrantless spying and more. The convention is being held at the Washington Hilton hotel over the weekend as Libertarians make their choice for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, with candidates including Chase Oliver of Georgia, Michael Rectenwald of Pennsylvania, Charles Ballay of Louisiana and Lars Mapstead of California. Trump’s appearance at the convention suggested an attempt to pull Libertarian voters away from their party’s nominee or independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also spoke at the convention. As Trump, a GOP presidential candidate, took the stage for his speech, he heard boos from many Libertarians while some Republican supporters wearing “Make America Great” hats and T-shirts cheered and chanted “USA! USA!” TRUMP VOWS TO COMMUTE PRISON SENTENCE OF SILK ROAD FOUNDER ROSS ULBRICHT In his remarks, Trump attempted to praise “fierce champions of freedom in this room” and described President Joe Biden as a “tyrant” and the “worst president in the history of the United States,” but some people in the audience shot back, “That’s you.” Trump asked for Libertarians’ endorsement and votes during his speech, which was met with jeers from the crowd. The former president, who is accustomed to campaign rallies in front of his supporters, was in unfamiliar territory, as Libertarians do not support him or many of the policies he proposed on the campaign trail or while in office. Libertarians, who value small government and individual freedoms, have long been critical of Trump, and his invitation to the convention divided the party, with some saying a candidate opposed to Libertarian values running for another party should not be welcomed because it would distract from Libertarian candidates and causes, while others praised the move because Trump’s presence would bring media attention to the convention. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for president in the Republican primary before dropping out to endorse Trump, was another non-Libertarian in addition to Trump and Kennedy Jr. who spoke at the convention. Ramaswamy also heard boos as he spoke on Friday when he mentioned Trump’s name. Trump attempted to appeal to the hostile crowd by referring to the four criminal indictments against him and joking, “If I wasn’t a Libertarian before, I sure as hell am a Libertarian now.” As the boos and criticisms continued throughout his speech, Trump at one point insulted the Libertarians he was attempting to convince to vote for him. “Maybe you don’t want to win … Keep getting your 3% every four years,” he said. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won about 3% of the national vote in 2016, and the party’s 2020 nominee, Jo Jorgensen, received just more than 1% during that year’s election. Polls have shown for months that most voters do not want a rematch of the 2020 election between Trump and Biden, potentially allowing an alternative like the Libertarian nominee, Kennedy Jr. or another third party candidate to see a boost in support. Despite the contentious crowd, Trump continued his speech, saying he came “to extend a hand of friendship” in shared opposition to Biden. Chants of “End the Fed!” — a common message from Libertarians opposed to the Federal Reserve — then began. One person who held up a sign reading “No wannabe dictators!” was escorted out by security. Trump attempted to reach the crowd by vowing to appoint a Libertarian to his Cabinet if he is elected president, but many in the crowd hissed in disbelief. But the crowd did give a big cheer when the former president pledged to commute the life prison sentence of the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, and potentially release him on time served. Ulbricht was convicted over his website being used to sell illegal drugs, even though he did not sell any of the items himself. The promise to commute Ulbricht’s sentence was aimed to win over Libertarians who believe government investigators overreached in their case against Silk Road and who generally oppose the War on Drugs. Ulbricht’s case was a hot topic during the convention, and many in the crowd held “Free Ross” signs and chanted the phrase as Trump delivered his speech. But despite Trump’s promises, many in the crowd remained hostile toward the former president. One Libertarian candidate, Rectenwald, said in his speech before the former president arrived that “none of us are great fans of Donald Trump.” Rectenwald and several other Libertarian candidates took the stage to scoff at Trump and his speech. “The truth is, I don’t like having a war criminal on this stage, I don’t feel he deserves a spot on this stage,” Oliver said of Trump’s appearance. BRONX RALLYGOERS REVEAL TOP 2 ISSUES THEY BELIEVE WILL HELP TRUMP DOMINATE IN BLUE STATE A couple of hours before Trump’s arrival, Libertarian organizers asked Trump supporters in the crowd to vacate the first four rows of seating, so convention delegates, many of whom had just returned from selecting their preferred Libertarian candidate, could sit closer to the front. Several Trump supporters initially resisted before eventually moving, and organizers later brought in more seats. Kennedy Jr., in his speech at the convention, accused Trump and Biden of infringing on personal liberties during the coronavirus pandemic. He said Trump catered to pressure from public health officials, like former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, and shut down businesses, and he knocked Biden for mandating vaccines for millions of workers. During his administration, Trump referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as “one of the greatest miracles in the history of modern-day medicine.” Since leaving office, he continued to tout the vaccines. Trump’s campaign claimed that the former president’s attendance at the convention was part of an effort to reach potential supporters in